Baseball Drops Second Straight To UC Irvine, 6-4

Santa Barbara, Calif. -
UC Santa Barbara's comeback fell short as UC Irvine defeated the Gauchos on Sunday, 6-4. The Gauchos rallied for three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, but the early five run deficit was too much to overcome. The win on Sunday gave the Anteaters the series victory after defeating the Gauchos in extra innings on Saturday, 7-6.

Brian Adams singled, Josh Fulton walked and Matt Stevens singled to start the Gaucho eighth inning. With one out, Josh McCanne grounded out to second base scoring Adams. The next batter, designated hitter Taylor Vogt then ripped a two out double, plating Fulton and Stevens, and cutting Irvine's lead to 6-4. However, the Gauchos could not rally for any more runs, as the next batter Matt Wilkerson struck out swinging to end the inning.

The Gauchos seemed to spark another rally in the bottom of the ninth inning as Chris Malec singled to lead off the inning. However, UCSB could not take advantage of the leadoff single, as the next three batters would be retired in order.

"We put ourselves in a little hole today," commented head coach Bob Brontsema. "We made a couple of decisions that ended up being costly."

UCSB starting pitcher Matt Vasquez surrendered a two-run home run to Chris Klemm in the top of the first inning, giving the Anteaters the early advantage. 2-0.

The Gauchos manufactured a run in the bottom of the fourth inning on a RBI ground out by McCanne, cutting UCI's lead in half to make the score, 2-1. However, The Anteaters exploded for four more runs in the sixth inning as a result of two RBI singles and two sacrifice flies to the outfield to give them a 6-1 advantage.

Irvine starter Paul French earned his second victory of the season, going seven strong innings of four hit baseball. Chris Nicoll was credited with the save, after striking out two batters in two innings of relief. Junior right-hander Matt Vasquez was credited with the loss, however only three runs of the six he allowed were earned.

Anteater outfielder Chris Klemm led all hitters, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI. Left fielder Matt Stevens chipped in with three hits for the Gauchos in the loss.

UC Santa Barbara travels to the University of Riverside this weekend for a three-game conference showdown with the Highlanders.